Page 62 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2021

Hants DA
Chairman: Ted Perren Treasurer: Ann Brown Secretary: Alison Clarke
To quote Captain Sir Tom Moore who sadly was lost to Covid 19 at the time of writing, “Tomorrow will be a good day. Even if today was a good day, tomorrow will be better”. What a man! Although cancelled events have become the new normal, one day, our meetings and events will resume once more.
Our February talk by James Hocking
on “The Golden State - California’s Finest Wines” had to be postponed, but it remains firmly on the agenda. I expect we will relish a spot of wine tasting when we are able to have meetings again. Similarly, we hope to reschedule David Thornton on “Tomatoes” and Mark Hall on “Growing for the Millennium Class” as well as Ray Broughton to horrify us with “Pests and Diseases Live”.
Keeping upbeat and optimistic, we have booked a stand for our Plant Sale in Romsey Market SO51 8YZ on Saturday 8th May 8.30am-2.30pm. Being an outdoor event, we are hoping lockdown regulations and the weather will allow this to go ahead. Please be sure to check the NVS website for up to date information on our events, this being the best way to keep abreast of any last- minute changes or cancelations.
All being well, we will be having an Open Garden on 11th July 1.30pm, to be hosted by Barbara and Nigel Gould in North Baddesley; address details available nearer the time. Our usual potato competition will be replaced by ‘1 each of 5 different veg or 5 different salad items, displayed in a standard sized seed tray’. This is a better option should any social distancing measures still be in place. The potato competition requires several people in close proximity to sort and weigh the potato bags, but with a Display in a Tray, only the exhibitor needs to handle the
Happy days – 2019 potato competition
tray and single exhibits can easily be judged. We still intend this to be a bit of fun, so hope everyone attending will not be put off ‘having a go’.
The New Forest Show were unable to confirm their plans at the time of writing, due to the continuing uncertainty over lockdown. So, we are planning for the Southern Branch Championships to be a virtual show on
27th July; the same date as the New Forest Show’s first day. With exhibitors growing for this date, if the New Forest Show can go ahead, exhibitors will have something to put on the show bench.
Please see the separate bulletin for more information on the Southern Branch Championships 2021 virtual show.
Trusting that we will be able to hold shows again by September, the Hants DA Annual Show will be a week later than usual, on
19th September 1pm-4pm at Wellow Village Hall, Buttons Lane, Romsey SO51 6BR. Those who had a 2020 show schedule, please keep it as we will be using the 2020 schedule for 2021, the only change being the date. We appreciate by moving the show by a week, it is likely to clash with other shows. We will return to our usual slot in 2022.
With high hopes that life is back to normal by October, we have booked Chris Bird from Sparsholt for Sunday 17th October for an Apple Day at Wellow Village Hall, Buttons Lane, Romsey SO51 6BR. Chris will bring along a wonderful collection of apples for his talk, with an opportunity for tasting.
Hopefully, it will not be too long before we can all meet again, but please continue to check the NVS website for updates on all events.
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